What to watch for today
Greece pitches some unusual measures. The debt-ridden country’s latest reform proposals are high on the agenda at the latest meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels. One proposal: Get students and tourists to spy on locals for signs of tax evasion.
ECB OKs QE. Also in Europe, the European Central Bank begins buying the sovereign bonds of countries in the currency union to lift the moribund economy. The ECB will buy €60 billion of debt a month until at least 2016.
Apple sets out its watch plans. In California, Tim Cook and the rest of the Apple hierarchy will set out how much the various types of Apple Watch will cost and why you should buy it. Here’s what we should find out today.
Global economic data. Japan sets out its latest revised fourth-quarter GDP figures. Elsewhere, look for inflation data from Mexico and Taiwan. In terms of earnings, British advertising giant WPP tells investors its latest set of results.
Over the weekend
Boko Haram pledged allegiance to Islamic State. An audio message, posted to Boko Haram’s Twitter account, proclaims the Nigerian terrorist group’s allegiance to ISIL. The statement has yet to be verified. Meanwhile, four suicide bombs and a car bomb hit Maiduguri in Nigeria, killing at least 54 people and injuring 143.
ISIL attacked Christian villages in Syria. Boko Haram’s new friends attacked villages along the northern bank of the Khabur River, with the strategic goal being the capture of Tal Tamr. Eight militants were killed as well as an unknown number of Kurds.
China’s export surged but it’s less amazing than it sounds. February exports jumped 48% versus the previous year. However, economists are hesitant to read too much into the trade data due largely to distortions created by when Chinese New Year falls in this part of the year.
Two suspects were charged for the murder of Boris Nemtsov. Police identified the men, both from the Caucasus region, through cell phone records and DNA evidence from the suspected getaway car, according to a statement from the head of Russia’s internal law enforcement agency.
GlaxoSmithKline fired more than 100 employees in China over a bribery scandal. The UK drugmaker took action in China over misconduct, nearly six months after its subsidiary was found guilty of bribing doctors, hospitals, and government officials. The scandal resulted in the firing of five top managers and more than $490 million in fines.
Chinese authorities removed a documentary from websites. Under the Dome, about the environmental costs of air pollution, has been taken offline by Chinese authorities after it has received 100 million views. Chinese politicians initially welcomed the film but then began cracking down on discussions of it on social media.
Quartz obsession interlude
Kabir Chibber on the leadership lessons you can learn from managing in the English Premier League. “Last year, 12 managers were fired by the end of the season—and there are only 20 teams in the league. A manager has been fired every year since the Premier League was created in 1992. ” Read more here.
Matters of debate
America needs to have just two time zones. And the world should follow suit.
Anyway, there’s no proof Daylight Saving Time saves electricity. So why do we even bother?
Everyone prefers to have a male boss. Even women would rather work for a man than another woman.
There’s only one man who can stop more political killings in Russia. Vladimir Putin.
Surprising discoveries
Florida has banned use of the term “climate change.” Yet the US state is at risk to the effects of global warming.
One start-up welcomes new employees by making them scrub toilets. That includes programmers and execs.
Twitter is planning to curate its tweets. All to make Wall Street happy.
The veteran writer Gay Talese returned to Selma. Fifty years after covering the famous march.
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